Syracuse, NY - A Syracuse man is facing 15 years in state prison after admitting today he fatally stabbed another man during a disturbance after the downtown Latin American Festival last summer.

Mizrain Trinidad-Ayala, 23, of 2003 E. Fayette St., Apt. B6, pleaded guilty before Onondaga County Judge William Walsh to felony first-degree manslaughter in the death of Anthony Lewis.

In pleading guilty, Trinidad-Ayala admitted he was trying to seriously injure Lewis when he stabbed the 20-year-old victim once in the heart Aug. 15.

The fatal stabbing took place during a big disturbance in the street at South Salina and East Fayette streets in the heart of downtown as people were leaving the Latin American Festival that had been held in Clinton Square.

Lewis was found bleeding in the street when police arrived. He later died at University Hospital.

Trinidad-Ayala wasn't arrested until this past February. Police said the defendant confessed to stabbing Lewis and was linked to the knife used in the homicide.

Trinidad-Ayala was initially charged with first-degree manslaughter but a county grand jury also included an upgraded charge of intentional second-degree murder in an indictment in April.

First Chief Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio said he agreed to let Trinidad-Ayala plead guilty to the lesser manslaughter charge because of potential proof problems with the case.

Trunfio said authorities believe the disturbance following the festival may have been related to an earlier dispute between Latino and African-American patrons at an after-hours club in the city. Lewis was involved in that incident but Trinidad-Ayala was not, the prosecutor said.

Although the knife wound to the heart could be argued as proof of intent to kill the victim, the fact there was only one knife thrust could have been seen as an indication Trinidad-Ayala was not trying to kill Lewis, Trunfio admitted.

Defense lawyer George Hildebrandt also said that the defense was considering arguing that Trinidad-Ayala was justified as he had come to the defense of a 14-year-old boy who was being punched and kicked at the time Lewis was stabbed.

The single stab wound to the victim also could have been argued was not proof of intent to kill, Hildebrandt said.

And there might have been a question had the case gone to trial as to whether Lewis was actually the person Trinidad-Ayala stabbed. A number of people were stabbed during the melee and the witness who saw Trinidad-Ayala stab someone was unable to identify Lewis as the person the defendant stabbed, the defense lawyer said.

Both Hildebrandt and Trunfio said the plea deal was struck to avoid the uncertainty of a trial.

Lewis' mother and other relatives sat crying quietly in court as Trinidad-Ayala entered the guilty plea, speaking through a Spanish-speaking court interpreter. Several friends of the defendant called out to him in Spanish during the proceeding trying to get him to reject the plea deal, according to the interpreter and court officials.

Trunfio said Lewis's mother, Angelik Mitchell, was not happy it took so long to arrest someone in her son's death and she was unhappy the charge originally filed was manslaughter. She believed the case should be prosecuted as a murder, he said.

But Trunfio said he had fully explained to Mitchell the potential problems with taking the case to trial and the reason for the prosecution's willingness to let Trinidad-Ayala plead guilty to manslaughter instead. The victim's family declined comment until sentencing.

Sentencing is July 7.

Trunfio and Hildebrandt said Trinidad-Ayala is the second member of his family to be convicted this year in a homicide.

His brother, Eduardo Trinidad-Ayala, 24, was sentenced last month to serve 40 years to life in state prison after being convicted in March of second-degree murder and attempted first-degree robbery in the fatal shooting of cab driver Timothy Gordon during an attempted holdup in January 2009.